MACARONI & CHEESE
01 october 2006

meg fisticuffs (aka megatron, aka meg: the silkening) passed this recipe along to me back in july, saying, "i made macaroni and cheese from scratch this weekend and it was awesome. i used a martha stewart recipe. that fucking lady knows her mac." it seemed a little hot for this particular dish till recently, when we've enjoyed some autumnal weather patterns here in the midwest -- which means, of course, temperatures swinging wildly from the 50s (a few days ago) to the 90s (today) -- so i decided that this was the appropriate time to give this recipe a shot, & since it supposedly serves twelve, i figured our sunday night dinner at daniel's would be a good time to try it out. attending this week's dinner: daniel, brian, val, sarah, beth, & i.

INGREDIENTS
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for dish
6 slices good white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
4 1/2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese (about 18 ounces)
2 cups grated gruyère cheese (about 8 ounces) or 1 1/4 cups grated pecorino romano cheese (about 5 ounces)
1 pound elbow macaroni

METHOD
heat oven to 375. butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. place bread in a medium bowl. in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. pour butter into bowl with bread, & toss. set breadcrumbs aside.

in a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. when butter bubbles, add flour. cook, whisking, 1 minute.

while whisking, slowly pour in hot milk. continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles & becomes thick.

remove pan from heat. stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, & 1 1/2 cups gruyère or 1 cup pecorino romano; set cheese sauce aside.

fill a large saucepan with water; bring to a boil. add macaroni; cook 2 to 3 minutes less than manufacturer's directions, until the outside of pasta is cooked & the inside is underdone. (different brands of macaroni cook at different rates; be sure to read the instructions.) transfer macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, & drain well. stir macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.

pour mixture into prepared dish. sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup gruyère or 1/4 cup pecorino romano, & breadcrumbs over top. bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. transfer dish to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes; serve hot.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
i chose gruyère over romano b/c i happened to find it first when combing the cheese section, & it worked really well, although, weirdly, i bought the cheese by weight & ended up using somewhat less than the recipe called for -- 4 1/2 cups of grated cheddar was closer to 14 ounces, for example. & regardless, this was a scandalous amount of cheese.

other than eliminating cayenne pepper, i followed the recipe pretty closely -- & considered myself lucky that the baking pan i bought last month for the enchiladas happened to be 3 quarts, since i had no idea going in that 3 quarts was that much stuff!

this mac & cheese required two burners plus the oven, which at daniel's house = overloaded circuits & tripped breakers (i've found i can use two burners OR one burner & the oven), plus, you know, it was pretty hot, PLUS i was boiling & frying up pierogi to go with the macaroni & cheese, so the kitchen was sweltering & i was on my feet for what felt like FOREVER, grating cheese & whisking the sauce.

it was worth it, though, b/c the recipe was a hit -- brian told me that i should feel free to make it again, & everyone seemed to dig the crunchy crust formed by the extra cheese & the coarse breadcrumbs on top, so maybe all the rumors i'd heard about martha stewart's recipes not working out for the layperson were a little exaggerated.

"Macaroni & Cheese" from Martha Stewart Living